Re:The argument against "downvote". A slight violation of th...
by LPTS on Sunday June 15, 2008 @08:57PM
(#218308)
No. It's a sentiment about demographics that relates to race. If you don't see a difference between that and being racist, I don't really know what to say to you.
There are lots and lots of people alive in their 40s and 50s who survived or had family lynched. There are lots of people in their 20s and 30s who's childhood (like what side of town they could go to and what girls or boys they could date) was deeply affected by aftershocks from this.
It's not so much about taking offensive as not triggering something that is still salient in a lot of people we should want to feel comfortable here.
That is, by definition, a racist sentiment. I know that you won't see it that way, but it's still worth pointing out anyway.
What a person does or does not take offense to is entirely up to them. I happen to think that it's reasonable to consider both the context and the intent of what's said, but some folks just like to get wound up about things.